1. Field
The present invention relates to a washing machine and a sound control method thereof, and, more particularly, to a washing machine and a sound control method thereof that are capable of canceling noise generated during the operation of the washing machine and, at the same time, informing a user of information related to the operation of the washing machine using a sound.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a washing machine (normally, a drum-type washing machine) is a machine including a water tub to receive water (wash water or rinse water), a cylindrical drum rotatably mounted in the water tub to receive laundry, and a motor to generate a drive force necessary to rotate the drum, which lifts the laundry along the inner wall of the drum and drops the laundry, during the rotation of the drum, to wash the laundry.
The washing machine performs washing through a series of operations, e.g., a washing operation to separate contaminants from the laundry with water containing detergent (specifically, wash water), a rinsing operation to rinse out bubbles or residual detergent from the laundry with water containing no detergent (specifically, rinse water), and a spin-drying operation to spin-dry the laundry at high speed. At the washing operation and the rinsing operation, a water supply process to supply water and a water drainage process to drain water are performed.
When the laundry is washed according to the respective operations, noise may be generated from the washing machine, with the result that a user may feel displeased.
A method of reducing noise generated during the operation of the washing machine is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2002-0040267.
According to the Publication, the washing machine outputs a melody corresponding to noise generated during each operation to reduce the noise, thereby improving washing environment.
In such a conventional washing machine, however, it is necessary for a user to download desired melodies from a personal computer to output the melodies to reduce noise generated during the respective operations. Also, it is required to modify the structure of the washing machine, such that an interface for data exchange with an external device is mounted at the washing machine, with the result that the manufacturing costs of the washing machine are increased.